Privately held RST Fiber's network runs from the coast to the mountains, spanning about 3,100 miles.

"The 5G network is here," said RST Fiber co-founder and CEO Dan Limerick. "This network will enable the Internet of Everything."

RST Fiber uses Cisco technology to operate its network, which is the creator of the term "Internet of Everything." It's defined as smart devices of all kinds (computers, phones, TVs, thermostats, etc.) having Internet connectivity and connecting people.

RST Fiber will first roll out to Raleigh, with south Charlotte following over the next month. Asheville will receive service about the same time as Raleigh, and some ares of the Triangle outside of Raleigh also will be linked to RST Fiber (although it's not yet clear where).

RST's internet service is expected to cost $99 a month, with TV and other services yet to be priced (RST is working with content providers at the moment).

Currently, Google Fiber has data transfer speeds of 1 gigabit per second. It went live in Kansas City in 2012, starting off with 700Mbps downloads and 600Mbps uploads.

In April of last year, it was reported that Google Fiber would expand to Utah and Texas. It plans to build its gigabit network in North Carolina in the future.

There is a similar technology used here in Australia known as "Wireless DSL".

So it would probably use the same principle.

Basically a company sets up a "WiMAX" tower which is then fed via a microwave back-haul dish (In this case Fiber) and is then sent to a receiver in the residents home, which is usually fixed to a roof or a wall and then using regular ole' Wifi or Ethernet cable is then connected to your router/modem so your devices can connect to it.

It's a fantastic way to get coverage to more consumers without having to burden a ton of costs related to digging/laying/stringing up cables.

The name however is mostly just marketing, hence why you shouldn't allow marketing departments to control technical aspects, thus it would just be "Fixed wireless" or something like WiMAX.

I'm surprised more rural areas in the USA don't have something similar, it's fairly common place in the lesser densely populated areas of Australia so people didn't have to put-up with 3G or Satellite or lord-forbid... IDSN/Dial-up/Dual-balanced IDSN/Dial-up.